Penske Racing drivers Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. finished 16th, 31st and 33rd respectively in Sunday’s Camping World 400 NASCAR Cup race at Kansas Speedway.
Newman and the No. 12 Alltel Dodge started 15th and suffered an extremely loose-handling race car early on. After slapping the wall in turn two on lap 74, Newman rallied after going a lap down to finish in 16th place. Newman is now 15th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver points standings, 222 points out of 13th place, with seven races remaining in the 2008 Cup Series season.
“For us, the biggest issue today was grip,” said Roy McCauley, crew chief of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge. “We had the Alltel Dodge balanced, but overall car grip was our biggest issue today. It was one of those days where you wish that you had a few hundred more pounds of downforce - life would have been a lot better. We fought rear grip about 60-70 percent of the day. We made some gains on it later in the race, but not enough to make a significant difference.”
Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, started 31st and struggled with handling issues for most of the race, much like his teammate Newman. Busch finished 30th, one lap down to the leaders, as he maintains the 18th spot in the NASCAR Cup Series driver point standings.
Starting from the 23rd position, Hornish and the No. 77 Penske Truck Rental team overcame a pit road penalty and a late-race, on-track incident to finish 33rd on Sunday. The No. 77 team remains 37th in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner point standings, 66 points outside of the top 35.
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